Town of Oro Valley employees won't be losing their jobs in the
fiscal year that begins July 1, a divided town council decided at a
special meeting on Wednesday, May 27.

By a 4-3 margin, the governing board decided to pull $584,000
from two reserve funds to protect 16.25 full-time equivalent
positions that had been considered for elimination. Another 8.86
jobs now vacant shall remain empty, the council decided.

Mayor Paul Loomis made the motion, and presented the case to
pull $380,000 from Oro Valley's $13.5 million general fund reserve,
and another $204,000 from its $4.3 million highway fund reserve, to
keep the 16.25 positions within various departments. Review of the
revenue and employee situation shall take place in six months, the
council agreed.

Loomis was joined by council members Al Kunisch, Kenneth "K.C."
Carter and Paula Abbott in voting for the motion. Council members
Salette Latas, Barry Gillaspie and Bill Garner voted against
it.

When the decision was made, the audience of town employees and
others clapped its approval.

"We retained the help by taking money out of savings when we
need it," Carter said after the meeting. "This was a major thing
tonight. These people have been sitting out here for two months
now."

With the vote, the council decided not to discuss other agenda
items Wednesday, among them proposals to reorganize the town's
development services offerings, and to look at revenue
enhancements. A hiring freeze remains in place.

After a lengthy meeting last week, the council moved briskly
Wednesday to reach its decision.

Before the vote, Latas asked if Oro Valley would be changing, or
suspending, its policy against using contingency funds for
recurring expenses. "It would be suspending policy," Loomis
replied.

"Does the motion address the fact we have no building permits
coming in right now?" asked Gillaspie, concerned about shrunken
revenue derived from construction activity.

"We've got a lot of employees that really have no work," Garner
said. He objected to spending money for workers who "might be
sitting at a computer, doing nothing," and was critical of Loomis
for not moving a plan through Town Manager David Andrews.

"I don't think it's well thought-out," Gillaspie said. Given the
economic slowdown and the unpredictability of state funding, "we
have no long-term sustainability in terms of revenue for this town.
You have no plan, and you're asking us to do something I think is
unwise, not that I don't want to save those jobs."

Latas agreed, calling the proposal "financially irresponsible."
She expressed concern the state would impose a moratorium on
municipal collection of construction impact fees, which would be
"ominous toward our future budget. … This is a really unsustainable
position to put our town and our taxpayers in."

"We've been working from Day 1 to try to save jobs," Loomis
said. "This is an opportunity to do so without having to get into
salary reductions, furloughs" and other measures, "and still have
opportunities to talk about how these positions may be used."

"I think every person we can save is a plus," Kunisch said.

Abbott made the suggestion to re-evaluate the situation in six
months.

"This is a one-time thing, and it's OK for contingency
purposes," Abbott said. "I would not suggest us doing this year
after year. This buys us a little time. I value our employees, and
want to make every effort to keep those people employed."

"We've worked very hard to bring the amount of money taken from
the contingency fund to a reasonable figure," Loomis said. "From my
point of view, the reasonable figure was a half-million
dollars."

Carter approved of an evaluation of workload down the road. "If
nothing's there," Andrews should "bring it to us, and we do what
we've got to do."

By policy, the town must keep the equivalent of 25 percent of
its general fund budget in reserve, Loomis said. The current $13.5
million reserve represents 47.6 percent of this year's spending
plan, he noted.

"Basically, we're looking at attrition … trying to hold us
through next year," when budgeting may be "as difficult or more
difficult" than this year's deliberations, Loomis said.

Spending lid on Wednesday council agenda

9 fewer jobs in fiscal '09-'10 plan

This Wednesday, Oro Valley Town Council members consider a
tentative, $121.5 million capital and operating budget for the
fiscal year that begins July 1.

The budget includes $40.56 million in general fund spending.

After last week's council decision to use $584,000 in reserves
to protect 16.25 now-filled jobs next year, the 2009-'10 spending
plan contains nine fewer full-time equivalent positions than the
current year budget, according to director of finance Stacey
Lemos.

The employment figure drops from 387 to 378 FTEs, the decrease
accomplished through attrition and vacancies, Lemos said.

Vacant jobs not now funded include a full-time economic
development administrator, a full-time civil attorney, a Geographic
Information Systems technician, a senior building permit
technician, two part-time library pages, a part-time court clerk, a
part-time transit dispatcher and a half-time police records
specialist.

Oro Valley's match toward employee and dependent health
insurance has not changed in the new spending proposal, Lemos said.
The town pays 100 percent of an employee's monthly insurance
premium, and 75 percent of dependent coverage.

Oro Valley put its health insurance policy out to bid this year,
and has secured a new provider, United Healthcare, at a 2.5 percent
price reduction, Lemos said.

"They have a wide provider network," Lemos said. "It's a win-win
situation. It's a good switch to a reputable provider."

Adoption of a final budget is planned June 17, following a
public hearing.

On Wednesday, the council plans to consider a resolution urging
the Arizona Legislature not to sweep municipal impact fees into the
state budget, not to impose a moratorium on the application of new
building codes to plats or plans, and not to impose a moratorium on
the future collection of municipal impact fees.

The governing board also considers funding to host a
town-sponsored Fourth of July event.